16th April 1998

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Commenting this morning on the announcement of Government's decision to give approval to the development of an Educational Village at Springvale in North/West Belfast, Lord Smith of Clifton, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ulster said:

"We are pleased at the news. It is a well deserved recognition of the dedication of the local community groups and local political representatives in North/West Belfast who have given the University so much public support. Also, it will be welcomed by those to whom the Secretary of State has referred, the University's funding partners at the International Fund for Ireland, the Millennium Fund and in Europe. They have shown resolute faith in the University's ideas through times when circumstances were not so favourable. I can now ask the Council of the University to consider making a decision to proceed on the project as part of our Corporate Plan."

"However, even if Council gives its approval, the next challenge facing the University is to secure the rest of the external funding needed for the realisation of the project and also, I hope, the next stages of its development. In doing this, we will fully exploit the unique potential of higher education to raise finance for its ideas and to attract inward investment for the areas in which it is located."

The Vice-Chancellor added:

"A positive decision by our Council would be a major boost for North/West Belfast in a number of ways. A University presence would, immediately and imaginatively:

allow us, in collaboration with our partners in the enterprise, the Belfast Institute of Further and Higher Education, to address the problems of chronic educational underachievement - at all levels - in the area
create a significant number of jobs for local people
attract inward investment and give impetus to economic revitalisation; the University's international reputation for practical and applied research will be the platform upon which such investment can be encouraged
provide a congenial setting for people of both communities to come together, to talk and to study, or for shared artistic and recreational pursuits
help to strengthen and stabilize the process of peace and social reconciliation
create a place of hope and environmental renewal out of a wasteland."
Lord Smith concluded with his hope that if the project became a reality, "the Springvale project would stand in ten years time as an example to all of best practice in inner city initiatives."

For further information, please contact:

Press Office Department of Communication and Development
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